A Port profile with a System VLAN defined allows associated virtual interfaces to forward traffic. This is relevant when there are certain VLANs that need to be up & forwarding to faciliate the initial communication between the VEM & VSM. Normally these will include Control, Packet, Management (Service Console or Mgmt VMkernel) and IP Storage VLANs. All other VLANs can be regular VLANs, and require the VEM to receive programming from the VSM before putting them into a fowarding state.
There are TWO places a system vlan needs to be defined for it to take effect.
1. Ethernet Uplink Port Profile
2. vEth Port Profile
This two-way requirement allow you to treat Port Profiles different, even if they share a common VLAN.
Case Example
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Control & Packet VLAN = 3001
Management Service Console = 3002
VM Data Traffic = 3002
Let's say all my VSM's connections (Control, Mgmt & Packet) are hosted on the 1000v. I'll want my Control, Packet and Managment traffic to behave as a "system vlan". But as you can see my VM Data shares the same VLAN ID with my Management. With the 2-factor system vlan config requirement I can treat virtual interfaces differently based on how their vEth profiles are defined, even if they share the same VLAN.
This is how it would look.
port-profile type vethernet dvs_Control-Packet
vmware port-group
switchport mode access
switchport access vlan 3001
no shutdown
system vlan 3001 <== Define vlan 3001 as a system vlan in vEth port profile
state enabled
port-profile type vethernet dvs_ServiceConsole
vmware port-group
switchport mode access
switchport access vlan 19
no shutdown
system vlan 19 <=== Define vlan 19 as a system vlan in vEth port profile
state enabled
port-profile type vethernet dvs_VM-Data
vmware port-group
switchport mode access
switchport access vlan 19 <=== No system vlan define!
no shutdown
state enabled
port-profile type ethernet system-uplink
vmware port-group
switchport mode trunk
switchport trunk allowed vlan 19,21-22,25,99,200,900,1000,1004,3000-3002,3005
channel-group auto mode on mac-pinning
no shutdown
system vlan 19,3001 <== Only Port Profiles with a "matching" vEth Port Profile system VLAN are treated as such.
state enabled
Result:
Control Traffic = Always forwarding
Packet Traffic = Always forwarding
Management Traffic = Always forwarding
VM Data Traffic = Forwarding after VEM receives programming from VSM
Hope this clears it up.
Robert
